Blade of the Kitsune
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: I am a blade. But I no longer kill. I no longer cut, no longer slice, no longer dice, I cannot harm. Once, I lived. Once, I loved. Now my friends are forgotten. My family, dead. My purpose is simple; my goal, humble. My name and appearance has changed hands time and time again, but still, I remain. What is my purpose? To save them. All of them. Fluff, lemons, romance, NarutoxHarem!
1. Cleaner

**A/N: Been browsing through the NarutoxWitchblade crossovers...and to be frank, I'm a little surprised. Most of the fics there haven't been touched for awhile, and the only good one, Naruto of the Blades, has yet to be updated in a long time. So I got to thinking...we know that every cloneblade sister eventually suffers a breakdown and tries to devour the host, yes? Wel, what if there were a way to sustain them? Not that state, mind you, but the cloneblades themselves? To help them? Heal them? Possibly even cure them altogether. Now, I'm not sure of how that might come about so this is entirely a shot in the dark here; merely something to brighten the sad universe of Witchblade.**

**Now...**

**...onto Blade of the Kitsune ! Warning! Gore and violence and extreme angst present in this chapter!**

_"I like my women deadly...but this is ridiculous!"_

_~Naruto._

**Cleaner**

"Bloody _hell,_ that was a long day."

The key turned in the lock, the door giving way to a statuesque, whiskered blond, her voluptuous body wrapped in a black cocktail dress, over which she wore a pristine white lab coat. She took in her apartment with a percursory glance, kicking off her high heels the moment she was inside. Too long! She wanted to scream

Careful to lock the door behind her upon entering, the woman flung her purse down upon floor and flung _herself_ into the nearest chair, sinking back amongst the cushions with a heavenly sigh. Blue eyes the color of the endless oceans drifted shut, fluttering open mere moments later. She inhaled sharply, shoulders sagging as though a great weight had been placed upon them. Slowly, ever so slowly, she intertwined her hands in place,

"Kai." She muttered aloud, crossing her fingers. A faint plume of smoke poofed through the air and devoured the voluptuous woman, revealing instead the chiseled features of a young man to the world, wrapped in the like of slick black jeans and a faded orange tee. Well, he wasn't exactly young. Not anymore. He'd been around for quite awhile now. A great deal longer than he would've liked, actually.

Naruto, "Cleaner" Uzumaki, stretched his arms and sighed. Ugh, he was seriously getting stiff in that body! He'd been forced to hold that henge for nearly four days now! Four days of parading around in those hellish high heels, looking over endless reports, making countless adjustments...and that was merely in addition to the work he already performed!

He was tasked with tending to the sisters whenever their Cloneblades began to break, charged with apprehending them whenever they ran out of control. Which was a good deal more often than he would have liked, thank you very much! Thanks in part to his own unique cells, he held an ability similiar to that of the Witchblade itself. He could rewrite the very fabric of life, DNA. Which wasn't nearly as easy as they made it sound, given the intense concentration required. The slightest miscalculation could be deady, fatal even. Idiots, did they have any idea just how _hard_ it was to rewrite a gene sequence, huh?! And he'd thought missions back in Konoha were hard...

**"Admit, it you just can't bear to leave those girls alone, can you?"**

_'Hello to you too, Kurama.'_ Naruto sighed to himself, he was becoming far too accustomed to the kitsune's voice in his head. _'You're right about that, though. Furumizu-teme, he's probably just using these girls for his own means. But most of them see him as "father" so going public really won't do much.' _He sifted through the papers on his desk and pulled up a file, leafing through the contents._ 'In fact, we'd probably damage what little standing we already have. No, I don't want to do that. They've lived their whole lives like this. I can't just shake everything up so suddenly.'_

**"You've really thought this through, haven't you?" **the fox mused.** "I almost admire your persistence."**

_'I'll take that as a compliment.'_

**"Well, we have been around awhile...**

Unlocking the seal had...done something to Naruto. He didn't age in a coventional sense. Oh, he had his share of scars and scares as time marched on without him, when he realized his friends and family were growing old around him while he remained trapped in his twenties. At first it had seemed a blessing; he was the hero of the Fourth Shinobi War and the Rokudaime hokage, and he'd live an awful long time until someone finallly managed to kill him. But joy soon turned to terror as he began to outlive his wives, outlive his children, and their children and then, their granchildren's children. When his great-great grandaughter suffered an untimely end at the age of seven, he'd sworn off having children altogether. He would never again know the pain of losing another loved one.

He'd taken on missions regardless afterwards, preserved the peace, kept the village safe, done his job. And then shinobi became obsolete. The world was changing they told him. He was a relic, a thing of the past, and, despite all the good he had done, he was being left behind. It was time for him to move on, they said. Time to find peace. But Naruto didn't want peace. He knew only how to fight. How to kill. He'd hired himsef off as a mercenary at first, fighting for a noble cause in the beginning, then, whomever was willing to hire. When that work began to dry up, when the world wars ended, he was finally forced to settle down. To return.

Not to a life as mortal_-there was no going back to that, not now-_but a life as something in between.

He could still be wounded mind you; could still be killed, but left alone, his body, simply wouldn't diie. A shinobi of his calibre wasn't exactly easy to kill, either. And so, much to his eternal charign, time passed. Friends and acquaintances came and went, technology advanced, civilazations rose and fell. Eventuallly he found himself in Japan once more, returning to his stomping ground of years past. Only to find the familiar concept of fighting was forever lost to him as well.

Battles were no longer fought in secret and shadow, assasinations no longer legitimized. Wars were no longer fought over land, but over stocks and prices. Now...they fought in boardrooms, not with kunai, and shuriken and jutsu, but with sharp words and power plays and double dealllings. The armor of choice was no longer a drab flak jacket, but finely tailored suits. If Obito Uchiha could've lived to see this world, this future, he would have gouged his eyes out. It had taken Naruto no less than a century to adapt, to learn the ins and outs of boardroom politics and buisiness, the "tricks of the trade" as they were called.

Two of the most recent_-in his eyes-_were the Douji Group and the NSWF. The latter having secured his services for a modest fee six years before the Great Quake ravaged Japan. Naruto could've easily charged miilllions for his services after that, but really, what need did he have of money? It wasn't like he lacked for anything. Modest apartment, modest needs. For the time being, he had everything he wanted. And he'd taken greats pangs to keep it that way. After all, with a near-limitless lifespan, what else was there for him to do but maintain his identity?

But it wouldn't do for anyone to see him as his _true_ self, an ancient shinobi with near god-like power. So Uzumaki Naruto took it upon himself to reinvent...well, _himself._ Literally. He recreated himself, cooking up a new identity, a new faux-persona every fifty years or so. Sometimes dying his hair, making himself taller or shorter, any random variance of features that would throw anyone off his trail. His current persona? _Naruko._ After all these years, he still found it amusing that he could turn heads when disguised as a woman. And not just those of men, either. After all, this body _was_ essentially his sexy jutsu technique, albeit clothed in lab attire. A tad tiresome ruse at times, given that men hit on him_-bleh!-_but a necessary one nonetheless.

His most recent exploits revolved around the observation of one Shiori Tsuzuki, documenting the rapid breakdown of her cloneblade. Honestly, the woman was batshit crazy to begin with! It certainly didn't help that she was a lesbian. He'd been forced to fend of numerous advances from her in his female form when things had become...unpleasant. Perhaps he should consider approaching her in his male fom...well, it ought to keep her from trying to rape him, at least.

**"Admit it, you love the crazy ones."** Kurama goaded.

_'Perhaps, but this is pushing the envelope a little, even for me.' _Naruto sighed._ 'It's not like I'm looking for a relationship here. Shiori probably is..._

**"So? What're you going to do?"**

_'Isn't it obvious? I'm going to-_

The phone at his desk rang, silencing his thoughts.

_'Hold that thought.'_

Reaching for the receiver, the blond stifled a sigh and made a single sign with his free hand. Abruptly, Uzumaki Naruto was gone and Namikaze Naruko sat in his place; the only sign of his passing the faintest whisps of shadow and smoke. "Hai?" She asked, twirling a finger through her hair, listening intently to the voice on the other end. The voice of Tatsuoki Furumizu, head of the NWSF, was there to greet her. Known as "Father" to the neo-genes, Naruto had a different nickname for him altogether. Of course, he couldn't very well say it while he was on the phone.

"We have a situation." The director continued. "Tszuki Shiori's condition has become critical. Retrieve her at once."

"So its Shiori this time, huh?" the blond mused, bringing up the file with a low whistle. If there was one person who could calm _that one_ down it was Reina, but seeing as her secretary had fled from her in the first place it was unlikely she'd seek her out. Reina...now that was a cold woman. It was almost as if she didn't have any emotion altogether...

"Intact, I assume?"

"In whatever condition possible." Furumizu ended their conversation curtly.

"Hai hai," the blond snapped off a lazy salute to no one in particular. "Whatever you say, boss man."

The moment Tatsuoki Furumizu cut the call, Naruko vanished, leaving Naruto's face twisted in disgust. Damnit, that guy really pissed him the hell off! He didn't care one bit for the neo-gene girls; in his eyes they were merely tools to be used; their emotions, their feelings didn't matter. If they suffered, he didn't care. Just as Shiori was suffering now. So long as he achieved his twisted goal, he didn't care what happened to them, no, he didn't mind if they were bent or broken; so long as they served hi purprose.

**"I take it we're taking on the job?" **Kurama ventured of his host as Naruto rose from his seat, revealing the thin bracelt upon his arm. The jewel within pulsated in responsed to his anger, glowing a bright mandarin orange as he slipped on a pair of open-toed sandals. He could already feel its power creeping through him alongside that of his tenant; warping and changing his body, sheathing him in ethereal armor not made by man nor beast. Even as the transfiguration took place he was a whirlwind; sweeping through the apartment, retrieving what he needed.

**"Is that a yes?"** The kitsune pressed.

"As if I would do this for a sychophantic asshole like him." Naruto growled, gathering up his belongings into a travel bag, alongside the equiptment he'd be needing. "I'm doing this for them...

Saffron crawled across the remainder of his body, sheathing him in golden light so bright that the mere sight of it scorched one's retinas. And then he was gone, out the door in a swirl of leaves.

_...not for you, ya cheeky dickwaffle."_

**A/N: And there you have it. Naruto is essentially a cleaner, though not in the conventional sense. Replacing infected cells overtaken by the cloneblades, repairing them with his own genes, his dna in essence, thereby making them his gils. Will Naruto save Shiori? He just might. Will he meet Masane? He just might. Will he have a relationship...with Reina? He just might. Will there be extreme amounts of sexiness in this story as there is in the anime? THERE WILL! And speaking of the anime, I was really pissed at the ending for Masane, I mean why did that have to happen to her after all she'd done?! She didn't deserve an ending like that! I won't spoil it for anyone who has yet to watch, but you really ought to, its such a touching story...**

**If anyone caught the TFS reference at the very end, good for you! =D**

**So, in the immortal words of Altas...**

**...review, would you kindly? Aaaand enjoy the preview!**

**(Preview)**

"_Papa!"_

_Naruto grunted as a girl with multi-colored hair all but tackled him, flinging both arms around his neck. He reached around to pat the youth on the head, mussing her hair with all the tenderness and affection of a loving parent. He was grateful he'd come as himself today. This girl though she'd yet to don a cloneblade was one of the strongest neo-gene's ever to be born. Although she bore the body of a young woman, her mind had yet to catch up with her body; she was essentially a thirteen year old lass underneath it all. And she saw him as her father. Go figure._

_"Hello to you too, Maria." Naruto sighed._

_"Moh, why are you always like that, papa?" the girl pouted._

**R&R! =D**


	2. Satisfaction

**A/N: Been browsing through the NarutoxWitchblade crossovers...and to be frank, I'm a little surprised. Most of the fics there haven't been touched for awhile, and the only good one, Naruto of the Blades, has yet to be updated in a long time. So I got to thinking...we know that every cloneblade sister eventually suffers a breakdown and tries to devour the host, yes? Wel, what if there were a way to sustain them? Not that state, mind you, but the cloneblades themselves? To help them? Heal them? Possibly even cure them altogether. Now, I'm not sure of how that might come about so this is entirely a shot in the dark here; merely something to brighten the sad universe of Witchblade.**

**Now...**

**...onto Blade of the Kitsune ! Warning! Gore and violence and extreme sexiness present in this chapter!**

_"Yes...this is what I want...satisfy me!"_

_~Shiori._

**Satisfaction**

Bare feet padded against the cold concrete of tokyo's harbor. Bare feet, belonging to a young, bloosoaked woman. Heedless of the bitter breeze whipping about at her ankles, ignorant of the cold spray, tickling at her toes, utterly uncaring for anyone or anything; even the world itself was small speck compared to the agony she suffered. Cloneblade ablaze, Tsuzuki Shiori stumbled forward, clutching at herself, fingers digging deep into the sleeves of the jacket she'd stolen; she vaguely recalled stripping it off a dead body. One of her victims. _Victims._ The word tightened around her throat like a noose, leaving her breathless. Oh god, she'd killed all those people back there. All those people. Consumed by the thought, she fell.

Sank to her knees ,clutched, at her head, wrestling with the foreign thoughts and desires threatening to tear her apart.

_Satisfy me...satisfy me..._

"No!" She pleaded, as though she could somehow dissuade the bracelet fused to her wrist. "No! I don't want that! I don't...want...any of this!"

She was supposed to wield the cloneblade! Not the other way around! It wasn't supposed to wield her! Shiori screamed as another wave of agony took her, shooting through her braiin like a milllion tiny knives stabbing at the dark recesses of her mind. Attacking her sanity. Terror trickled through her connection to the cloneblade, lending fuel to the ghastly transformation.

At her wrist, the cloneblade blazed blue fire, and this time, there was nothing Shiori could do to stop it. She felt it consume her; envelop her, stripping her of the coat, wrapping her in threadbare armour, subsuming her mind in mirthful madness. Brown hair blazed white. Caramel eyes flew wide open, irises searing an otherwordly azure, sclera fading to black. _Stop,_ was Shiori's last thought, and then she was gone; her body, her mind, even her soul suffocated by an eerie, all too familiar, more immediate feeling.

_Desire._

"I want someone to fufill me...

She stood woodenly, not taking enough care-nay, uncaring as the cloneblade blazed around her, ascending to its second state.

The brunette? The Witchblade wielder? Shiori toyed with the thought a moment longer, playing with the idea of having the redhead beneath her body; lips colliding, hips thrusting. An errant thought shattered the image like so much glass. Why think about it when she could feel it? Her eyes drifted shut, searching, sensing. There! She felt it, out there, on the seas. Power. Great, endless, all-consuming power. A power that just might be able to fufill her.

_"She_ could fufill me...

Grinning, she took off in the direction of the power.

"There you are...

A memory entered Shiori's mind just then, a snatch of conversation from weeks past...

_(Flashback)_

_"Ha?!"_

_Shiori balked, unable to believe the words she'd just heard. She'd left the office mere moments before; another of her many attempts to flirt with Reina-sensei having ended in...welll, utter failure. Seeking solace, she had sought out Naruko-sensei instead. She'd found the blond as she always had; the woman rarely left her office until the evening. Somehow, after countless hours of poking and prodding, she'd managed to wrest out a valuable piece of information. That information being:_

_"Today's your birthday, sensei?!"_

_"It is." The buxom blond didn't so much as bat an eyelash, nor did she glance up from her paperwork._

_"And you didn't tell anyone?!"_

_"Would you have gotten me a gift if I did?" Her senpai asked archly, finally looking_

_Her senpai smiled softly and sipped at her tea._

_"When you've lived as long as I have, you tend to be a bit jaded."_

_"Just how old are you, sensei?"_

_A coy smile broke out on the blonde's whiskered face._

_"Older than you, that's for certain, Shiori..._

_(End Flashback)_

She shook her head, clearing it of thought as she touched down upon the boat. She musn't think about that now. No. She would not, could not think about that. Naruko had rejected her. She wound find someone else to fufill her. And that someone was here, on this yacht. But when she touched down, she found only frightened men and women. The tried to flee from her, but she cast them into the sea, uncaring for their fate, along the currents of the sea. None of them would answer her questions!

"Where is she?!

"I...don't...know...

_"Aaaaargh!"_

Shiori saw red. Where was she?! Where was the witchblade woman! Where was the one who could satisfy her?! She cast aside the men on deck, uncaring for them or their fate. She would find her! She would find her and then she would be satisfied! And then...and then-

_Footsteps._

The harsh clack-clack-clack of bladed feet touching against the deck.

"You looking for me?"

She rounded on the voice, a wide grin splitting her full lips as she took in the one who had spoken. Crimson hair. Golden eyes, lined against black sclera, clad in hellish, skintight armor, an armour that rivaled her fierce primal beauty. She stood before her like an avenging goddess; fiece and furious, ready to cut her down at a moments notice.

"There you are...

The redhead licked her lips laviciously and that was it; it was too much to bear!

_"Satisfy me!"_

They clashed, matching one another blow for blow. But it wasn't enough. There was no fire in those saffron orbs; whatever fierce fury she'd once held had faded, a mere candle compared to the raging inferno she'd felt a week before. It was sickening. Depressing. Dissapointing. She was weak, too. Unable to stand up, before her power. Weak, Undesirable. Unfufilled. Shiori growled, driving her back with a renewed onslaught of strikes, driving the redhead to her knees. She brought her blade up, ready for the final blow.

"I don't sense anything from you anymore." She sighed, her gaze sliding over Masane like water off a duck's back. "What a dissapointment...

She brought the blade down.

_Hard._

But the strike never came. She felt a violent impact in her left shoulder like someone had hit her in the back with a hammer. The pain was excruciating enough to stagger, and she pitched forward, her blade biting into the wooden decks below, narrowly missing the witchblade woman. Yet even as that one rose to strike a debilitating blow a second, invisible attack hammered down on Shiori's right arm, driving her to the deck and out of harms way. Shiori shrieked, a red glaze falling across her vision.

"That's enough, Shiori!"

She rounded on the voice with a snarl, eyes flashing. She'd cut them to pieces! Who dared! Who-

Azure eyes bulged against black sclera.

_Naruko._

But this man wasn't Naruko-sensei. He couldn't be. He had blue eyes and whiskers but the rest of him was wrong. _Wrong!_ Where was Naruko's long, flowing hair? Where was the deep curve of her hips; the bulge of her bosom against her coat and dress?! This man was wrong! He was not the one she sought! And yet...and yet...she found herself attracted to him. To him: with skin wrought of armor; his very body gleaming as though it were aflame. This man...who was he? Why did her heart tremble when he called out to her? Her eyes roamed over every inch of him; his unyielding stance, the grim, determined, set of his jaw, the hard lines of his arm shining, glistening as he brought it back-

_Pain._

Shiori could scarcely comprehend it as the clenched knuckles barreled into her face. She tasted blood in her mouth and spat it out, her sense of self slipping through the cracks as the blow sent her sprawling. And yet, it did not hurt so much as it did stun. She balked, touched a hand to her cheek, gawped at the blood on her fingertips. A furious hiss fled from her lips. He had hurt her! Caused her pain! She would kill him for that! She'd make him suffer! Thoughts ablaze, the neogene stood woodenly, not taking enough care. She...she would-

She would not do anything; because those baleful blue eyes blazed crimson, rooting her where she stood.

"Come here, Shiori." His eyes held her, pinnioning her with a gaze, beckoning with a hand. "If you truly wanted to be satisfied, come to _me."_

Unbidden, Shiori felt herself obeying. Her bodying moving, taking meek, tentative steps towards him. Such power! Such strength! Tsuzuki couldn't even _fathom _the concept of disobedience. Instead she whimpered, lips parting with want_-with need-_as she approached him. She paused a mere foot from him, pale orbs raking over him like hot coals.

"You...you can fufill me?" Her words emerged as a soft cry, little more than a desperate plea. She just wanted someone to satisfy her. Was that so much to ask? Reina-sensei refused to fufill her. The nurses she'd killed hadn't fufilled her, either. But this man...this godlike figure who looked like Naruko-sensei, who _smelled_ like Naruto-sensei, perhaps _he_ could sate her long-lived lust? Perhaps...

At her words, the blonde cocked his head. Pain flitted across his features; the slightest sliver of sorrow breaking out on his chiseled face, like a crack etching along a stone surface. At last he sighed, raising an armoured hand to cup her cheek, fingers cradling her face gently, tenderly as though she were a porcelain doll and the slightest affront would shatter her forever.

"If that's what you want...then yes, I will fufill you. Every want and need." He lowered his lips to her, and her world, the madness, everything else fell away. Shiori wanted to scream. Not out of pain or anger, but sheer _ecstasty._ She flung both arms around his neck and pulled him close, her tongue stabbing through his lips like a knife. She tasted his blood in her mouth, tasted it over her tongue and the burn in her chest boiled higher, hotter, than ever before. When his lips left hers, Shiori knew. He was the one. The one who could satisfy her. **Hers.**

_Mine,_ the thought blazed in her mind as she tangled her hands in his hair, burning away all else, _Mine mine mine mine minemineminemine..._

"This is it..." She gasped out as the man who so resembled her beloved Naruko-sensei pulled away, nearly euphoric in her delight. "I need more...please...please...I beg you...

"You poor thing."

Instead of kissing her again, he pulled away, lacing his armoured fingers through her silver hair. Shiori purred, forgetting all else. When he tried to step back, however, something inside Shiori snapped. _No!_ She wanted to scream at him, to throttle him as his eyes locked upon the Witchblade wielder._ You can't look at her! You have to look at me! You can't look at anyone else but me! _She lashed out at him in a vain bid for his attention and failed, horrifically; her crescent blade slipped through his flesh, severing his hand from that wrist, effortlessly truncuating the limb.

_"Mine!"_

Naruto grunted, eyes flying wide open as the severed hand flopped away from him and into the ocean. But he made no move to attack. He merely frowned at the severed stump at his wrist, regarding it as though he'd simply sustained a papercut, not a potentialy life-threatening injury that might cripple him for the rest of his life. But Shiori wasn't thinking about that. She thought only of the way he'd looked at the Witchblade wearer, the way he'd glanced at that woman, and the thought stirred the flames in her chest. No! Never! He was hers! Hers and hers alone!

"You're not going anywhere." She hissed, dragging his face toward her mouth. "Because...I'm the only one who's allowed to have you!"

Her lips struck at his with renewed and frantic desire; as though the very act of being seperated from him was a painful one. Her body cleaved against him with reckless abandon, her hips meshing against his, every movement sending silent thrills coursing through her body. Every inch of her was tingling beneath the armour, her nipples stiff, her clit soaked. She couldn't take it anymore! She wanted this armour off! She wanted to tear the cloneblade off and let him take her over and over and _over again_ until she was satisfied. She wanted_-needed!-_him to slake her thirst, to sate her ravenous hunger. Overwhelmed by these ferverent desiires, the cloneblade had no choice but to obey; the armor briefly peeling back from her vital areas, the second skin faling away as she cleaved herself against him. It was a mistake.

"Honestly...

Becuase it was in that very instant, that brief moment of indecision-

...women like you...

-that the blond struck.

**_...really are crazy!"_**

Shiori balked as those slitted eyes narrowed, exuding a pressure so intense she nearly came then and there. Oh, how she wanted him! She made to grab at his face again, but a hearstopping hiss froze her in place. She was abruptly terrified, her lust smothered in more immediate horror as he seized her arm by the wrist and jerked it towards his face. Ow! He was breaking athe words away, cowing her. Baffled by

_**"Stand still, woman."**_ The man ordered his rough voice scraping over her skin like nails, demanding complete and utter compliance. _**"You wished for me to satisfy you, yes?" **_Shiori briefly balked as his ruined arm tightened, wrapping around her waist with enough force to splinter the armour there. _**"Well then...I shall!"**_

With his remaining hand, the man who looked so much like Naruko-sensei _-and yet was **not** Naruko-sensei-_ ploughed upward, driving his fingers where no man's fingers were meant to go. Shiori gasped and turned stiff as a board. Gasped, as her body succumbed to his touch, as her shoulders slackened, as she went weak in the knees. Oh dear kami! Was he actually_...he was!_ She whimpered, hips bucking as he played with her clit, as he touched and teased the most intimate folds of her sex.

Before she could hope to speak he did the inexplicable thrusting his fingers in her mouth and pushed down upon her tongue; gagging her, choking her, forcing her to taste her own juices. It was...enthralling. Shiori had no other word for it. She'd never allowed a man to take control of her like this before. Never. For one to do so now, for her to be ruthlessly dominated, forced obey his every whim...

_Kami!_

She bucked and writhed under his touch, moaning as he took his fingers from her mouth and traced them across the generous bulge of her bosom, teasing her with his touch. When she tried to muster some semblance of resistance he retaliated; dragging her down to the deck, straddling her, spreading her legs wide. Shiori squirmed restlessly beneath him, gazing greedily into his eyes as his own armour began to peel away. How long did he intend to make her wait? How long-_oh!_ All thoughts dissolved into gibberish; mindless, senseless static, as she felt his erect member push through his armour and into the folds of her clit. She couldn't take it any longer! Even as he began to enter her, impatience prevailed. Purring with as much lust as love, the neogene reached up with her legs, wrapping them around his waist, forcing him into her. The rest, was a blur, but one she would dream of for many nights to come.

"More!" She gasped, writhing as he entered her. "Faster!"

She squealed as he took her roughly then and there, filling her with his seed, driving the darkness to the deepest, darkest corners of her mind. She could feel the eyes on them, their incredulous expressions whilst they watched. And she didn't care. She held no regard for any of them; Takayama Reiji, Segawa, even the witchblade woman, they were naught but a speck in Shiori's mind at that instant. There was only the man thrusting wildly inside her, ushering her onward to her orgasm, satisfying her, fufilling her every need and then and then_...kami!_

Shiori _screamed_ as she came, uncaring for those who heard. Her word burst into white, obliterating the all-consuming lust that had held her mind enthrall for the last week. Deprived of the madness that had beeen her constant companion, she was left weak, drained. Exhausted. She sank back against the deck with a moan; in that instant, she couldn't have harmed a fly, such was her weakness.

**"Are you satisfied, my beautiful blade?"** He purred in her ear as he exited her. **"Is your lust sated?"**

"I...yes!"

**"Yes...?"** He drawled off, waiting for her words. Unbidden, she gave them.

"Yes, master!"

_**"Good girl,"** _Naruto soothed, his words whispering in her ear as the fingers of his good hand stroked her face. _**"Just a little longer****...**there."_

Shiori yelped as an icy numbness spread from in-between her legs, immediately persued by flame. A great, all-encompassing fire; searing through her soul, smoldering across her skin, subsuming every inch of her. It burned! Sweet kami, did it burn! At her wrist the cloneblade blazed anew, its vivid light struggling to match the furious crimson energies coursing through her veins. Fading, as scarlet swallowed sapphire. Shiori could only gasp as she felt the inferno roar higher still, her cloneblade shrieking as it ascended to its second state for the fourth and final time.

And then it was over.

Everything receded into the bracelet at her wrist, no longer blue nor crimson but pulsating an eerie magenta. Shiori gasped. Gagged, as her consciousness came roaring back leaving her blind, deaf and numb. Naruto rolled off her, allowing her mind to slowly, tentatively return. What'd happened...oh dear kami! It all came rushing back to Shiori in a wave; a tidal wave of misery and anger and embarassment. So embarassing! She clutched at her face, covered her eyes, moaned. She could still taste herself on her tongue, her own juices leaking through her mouth, mingling with her saliva. And her legs...so sore! And yet...

She felt differnet now. Calm. Complete. Whole. The insanity that had always gnawed at her was greatly less; reduced to a mere shadow of its former self. Feebly, she dragged herself across the deck, pulling hersef over and toard railing. She stared down at herself, at her face, her reflection in the sea face and fought the urge to gasp. The face that stared back at her was her own...and yet not. Whereas she'd once been a brunette, the faintest whisps of white were laced through her brown hair. Her irsies had suffered a transfiguration as well; the once dull, nondescript orbs, having brightened to severe shade of sapphire, while her sclera were forever darkened, faded to black.

_'What's happened to me?'_

Shiori shivered, cold and naked. _Alive._ Her every cell felt charged with energy, as though she'd been struck by lightning. She stood_-too swiftly-_and the world swam before her. Strong arms were there to enfold her, and a strong hand to support her. She shuddered as that hand wrapped a coat around her, covering her, warding away prying eyes.

"Have you calmed down now, Shiori?"

Her head jerked from side to side, like a puppet severed from its strings. The man still stood over her, holding her, but even as she watched those crimson orbs faded; scarlet slithering into sapphire retreating alongside the golden, godlike armour and aura he wore. In the span of two beats he stood before her, the slightest smile alighting his lips.

"Sensei?"

The man smiled softly.

"More or less." he whispered. "I'll have to ask you to keep quiet about this, of course...Shiori-chan."

Shiori started in surprise. His voice...was almost exactly like Naruko's! It was almost as if she were looking at a male version of her precious sensei; the way he held himself, the way he spoke, the way he smiled, it was all so much the same as the buxom blond for whom she'd first fallen. She flushed at the thought. No...they couldn't possibly be the same person...could they? Her gaze roamed over him, finally faliling upon the severed stump of his hand. She gulped, remembering what she'd done to him.

"Sensei...your hand...

"Oh, this?" Naruto glanced at the severed stump that had been his right hand. "No problem."

Everyone balked as the flesh around his wrist began to wriggle and writhe, stretching like elastic. With a spurt of bodily fluids the limb was restored, fingers and all. Shiori nearly fainted at the sight of it. How...how had he done that?! One moment his hand had been gone, the next...it was if he'd never lost it!

"But how did you...

Naruto smiled.

"Therein lies a story...would you like to hear it, Masane-chan?"

"Me?" The brunette blinked, flushing as the blonde's gaze fell upon her. Just who the hell was he? And how did he know her name?

"Hai, hai," Naruto reassured, "Now, this way, if you please!"

* * *

When they finally reached the docks, Shiori was filled to the brim with mixed feelings, joy and regret and fury prominent, amongst them. Naruko-erm, _Naruto-sensei_ had told them everything. He'd ushered her and the witchblade woman_-whom she know knew as Masane_-into the cabin and explained who he was and his intentions. Joy because she now knew he'd saved her from a fate worse than death. Regret; because she now knew that Naruko had never existed at all; she was a mere illusion conjured up to dupe Furumizu and the other members of the NSWF. And then there was fury; fury at being used for the sake of one man's twisted dream, to be used and cast aside as he saw fit.

Finally, there was shame.

Shame, because she knew just how Naruto went about curing those afflicted with cloneblade breakdown. For most, it was a simple matter of injecting his power and that of his...tenant into the neogen's themselves, the swift and easy way would be via blood transfusion. But for those in the most advanced stage of breakdown such as herself, more...direct matters were often required. Shiori had been the first to degenerate so rapidly in such a short span of time...and she'd been his first in over a century. Kami, she prayed she wouldn't get pregnant from this...that was the last thing she needed! She wasn't supposed to liike men anyway! And yet when she caught Naruto discussing matters of the witchblade with Masane..._her blood boiled._

Just because she had the witchblade...that didn't mean he had to fuss and fawn over her!

"Hmm...it appears to be in good shape, for now." the blond noted, ignorant of Shiori's ire as he took hold of Masane's wrist. "I'll have to run some preliminary checks just to be certain...

"N-No, thank you!"

Masane abruptly wrested her wrist away, her cheeks burnished a grand crimson color. She'd seen what he'd done to Shiori in her transformed state. She didn't want that kind of check! And yet, she could slake the touch of desire he'd stirred in her. She had seen his power there and then; seen him dominate the powerful cloneblade and make her his own. As much as she might not want to admit it...the thought of that power being hers...made her rather warm. It had taken everything she had to hold herself back there; the witchblade had practically _demanded_ she take him and make him her own. Nonsense! She barely even knew this man! So...how was it possibly that she_-that her body-_wanted to screw him so badly?

"I was just going to use a scanner." Naruto pointed out breaking the young mother from her reverie as he retrieved the portable device from his pouch. "Whatever did you think I was going to do?"

"Nothing!" the brunette shook her head emphatically, only slightly relieved to see that he meant her no harm.

"Oh...

_Why do I feel so dissapointed?_

* * *

_Why am I so jealous?_ Shiori wondered in the same vein. She knew why; she wanted Naruto to fuss and fawn over her!

Not Masane!

She was just about to storm towards him, to tell her fellow brunette off, when a flash of magenta caught here eye on the shore. She froze, inexplicably rooted by the sight. Numb, she was dimly aware of the boat being shored, tied to the dock, and of herself, disembarking. Naruto had disengaged from Masane and now followed after her like a shadow, but she couldn't have been less aware.

_Reina._

Everything had fallen away when she saw Reina-sensei waithing there for them at the docks. To call the violet-haired woman beautiful would've been an understatement. A flawless, voluptuous body trapped within the confine of her dress; she was the apple of anyone's eye, her gentle brown eyes could leave you mesmerised for hours. Unfortunately for Shiori, those eyes were anything but gentle at the moment...

"It seems Shiori came to see you after all." Reina's gaze locked upon the embarassed woman in question before finally roaming over the ruinated state of the boat. "I trust she didn't cause you too much trouble, Reiji?"

Takayama remained stone-faced.

"No, it was no trouble at all. You have a very capable associate."

"He certainly is, isn't he? Unlike some people." Reina smiled and Shiori shivered. She knew she was in trouble. She knew she'd likely be punished for flying off the handle and attacking the head of the Douji Group. She knew all these things, and yet, she was secretly satisfied. Naruto had made her his in ways he couldn't even imagine. True, she didn't much like men...but she would make an exception for him. She clutched at Naruto's hand behind her back; subtly laying her own claim to the blond, even as she bowed and gave her sincerest apologies.

"Sumimasen...sensei...

"We're going home, Shiori." She turned away without another word. "Your punishment will be decided by Father."

Shiori ruthlessly surpressed her own anger; sensei didn't know Father's true objective! Like hell she'd let herself be punished by that man! Never! Never again! And then, much to her infinite dismay, Reina-sensei strode forward, taking Naruto by the arm and yanked him away from her. Away from her. She was left aghast as her fellow neogene hauled the blond forward, her lips touching his cheek, for the faintest instant. _Sensei! _Shiori didn't know how she felt about that; both sensei kissing one another... unless...unless she could have them both?

Naruto balked as he saw the hearts in Shiori's eyes. She was clearly lost in her own little world. And he had an idea of what that world was...

_'Uh-oh.'_

**"You've caught an interesting one this time, kit." **Kurama chortled.** "A threesome between the three of you, eh? Now that'd be fun...**

_'Urusai!' _Unbidden, Naruto felt his cheeks flushing._ 'I've already cured...so I'm satisfied for today!'_

**"What's the harm?" The great fox continued to poke and prode "We had that threesome with that Hyuuga woman and the Kazekage's sister, didn't we? Now that was a good time!"**

_'Yes, and don't remind me!' _That train of thought brought its own share of pleasures for the last Uzumaki, and with them came pain. Hinata and Temari were long since dead; dead and gone and buried. Thinking of the past was pleasant, but reflecting on those wonderful days dredged up more painful memories than he'd have liked to admit. He'd loved those two, that he had, just as he'd loved all his other wives, but in their passiing was yet another reminder; he didn't belong in this era. It really was hell on earth when you watched your loved ones outgrow you; when you were watch them

"You have some explaining to do." Reina whispered as she pulled away, her words only for his ear. She kissed him again, softly this time. He barely felt it. "And I intend to hear every word of it."

Naruto blanched, not at the kiss, but at her words. He wasn't blind; that kiss had been a feint, to draw him in close. Reina was a cold woman; she kept her emotions-assuming she had any-close to her chest. For her to kiss him out of the blue was...well, simply not in her nature. She was not of the spontaneous sort either, her every action was calculated. He cared for all the neogenes' in the same vein, but for him to actually _love_ one of them was absurdity himself. Shiori might be the only exception to the rule, now that he'd stripped her of her madness.

"Seems I've been caught in the act." he muttered, pretending to embrace her. "I trust you haven't told father, yet?"

"It depends on what you tell me." she whispered back.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow.

"Are you threatening me, Reina?"

"That depends."

"On?"

"On-

_"Mama!"_

The tension shattered like glass before the voice; that of a young, violet haired girl running full-steam at her mother. Her resemblance to Reina...was uncanny. Naruto half-expected her to fly into Reina's arms; imagine his surprise when Masane scooped her up and held her close. Reina didn't seem to care; if she did she gave very little indication of it. But there could be no denying the way she stared at the girl; there was perhaps this and only this; the slightest hint of longing in her eyes.

**"Her daughter?"** Kurama mused, posing the question.

_'Probably.'_

"Riko!" Masane exclaimed! "What are you doing here?!"

"Are you surprised?" The little girl chirruped. "I came with Tozawa-chan!"

"Tozawa?"

**"Aaaand that's our cue."**

_'Couldn't have said it better myself.'_

Naruto performed an abrupt about-face.

"Well, it was nice to finally meet you, Masane-chan, Rihoko-chan!" The blond bowed, low and deep at the waist, waving when the child blinked in his direction. "We'll have to do this again, sometime. Hopefully without one of my associates going psychotic and trying to lop your head off." He wrapped an arm around Shiori's waist, mildly amused to see the secretary flush as he ushered her into Reina's car. "Until we meet again, then!"

_"Ja ne!"_

* * *

_(Hours later)_

"Kai."

Naruko practically _spat_ the word as she stepped inside the apartment, smoke billowing about her body, revealing his true form once more. He kicked off his shoes, threw his bag down, and made his way to the kitchen, swearing all the while. He'd been forced to henge back into his female form when Reina questioned him_-wouldn't do for people to see his true form now, would it?-,_ and she hadn't let him henge out until she'd finiished her line of questioning.

What had begun as a long afternoon swiftly turned into a long evening and an even longer night as the neogene drilled him on everything of his past. From his days as a genin to his now near-thousand year lifespan, it had detailed everything, his confession had. Yet when he tried/ventured to tell her of NSWF's true purpose, Reina'd nigh but thrown him out of her apartment...almost as though she didn't want to hear the truth. Shiori-thankfully!-had elected to stay the night at Reina's, in an attempt to talk sense into her sensei, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts until the morning...

...or so he thought.

Scarce had he set foot in the kitchen than Naruto realized he was not alone. _Lovely._ His body bristled as he soon as he saw the fridge: its door stood eerily ajar, both the lock and handle hanging at an awkward angle as though someone had violently wrested both open. The jinchuuriki nearly groaned as he heard noise coming from the other room.

**"You don't think...**

Naruto blanched at the thought.

_'Nah, she wouldn't have-**oh bloody hell!'**_

Naruto grunted as he rounded the corner and found himself face to face with the culprit; a girl with hair the color of a rainbow. Sapphire, saffron and scarlet, these were the colors of her hair, bound back in simple pair of ponytails behind her peered past her, nonplussed to find the den full of-you guessed it-half eaten dishes and scattered napkins. And despite this_-or perhaps in simple spite of it-_she still looked as though she had just stepped out of the shower; her soft skin glistening with moisture, damp hair sticking to her visage as she whipped around to confront the sudden sound of his intrusion.

Her caramel eyes lit up as he stepped through the doorframe, her gorgeous white grin streaking across her mouth as she stood and ran to him like a child welcoming her father home from a long business trip. He could only stand dumbfounded as her lithe form slid gracefully across the room to him. How had she gotten inside his apartment without breaching the security? How had she-

___"Papa!"_

And then there was no more time for thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck with a squeal, burying her face in the crook of his collarbone. Still in his state of shock, it took Naruto a few moment to react and place his own arms around the thin waist of the girl. She was stronger than she looked; the mere act of flinging herself at him had nearly knocked the breath from his lungs and it was evident in his words when he tried to speak with her.

"Maria, what're you-_oooofff!"_ Naruto grunted as the neogene squeezed him tighter, cracking a rib. "Ease up! You're hurting me!"

"Sorry, papa." She mumbled into his chest, elicting a small frown from the blind.

He sighed as she nuzzled her face deepr into his neck, clearly enjoying the warmth of his skin on her cheeks and the smell of his hair in his nostrils. He felt her arms tighten around him and her breathing quickened, her breasts heaving up and down against his chest. He felt moisture through the thin fabric of his shirt; belatedly, he realized Maria was crying.

"Papa...why weren't you here?" She continued, her words fraught with concern. "I missed you, so I snuck out to see you, but then you weren't here and I got hungry but then I made a mess so I had to use the shower and I...I...

Naruto didn't bother to restrain himself this time.

"I missed you too, Maria."

"Really?" She peered up at him, hazel eyes shining with unshed tears. "You really missed me, papa?"

"Yes, really."

She buried her head in his chest again and chirruped softly.

...yay."

Naruto fought the urge to reprimand her and reached around to pat the youth on the head, mussing her hair with all the tenderness and affection of a loving parent. Poor thing. It had never occurred to him that Maria might sneak out of her room in the dead of night to come see him. Well it had, but he'd never thought she'd be willing to risk the sanctity of their secret just because she was lonely.

This girl_-though she'd yet to don a cloneblade-_was one of the strongest neogene's to ever to be born. Although she bore the body of a young woman, her mind had yet to catch up with that body; she was essentially a thirteen year-old lass trapped in woman form. And she alone saw him as her father. It had been quite by accident; Maria had followed him home from work one day and, much to the blonde's consternation, discovered his well-kept secret. Kami alive, that'd been one helluva surprise! That night, he'd stepped out of the shower to find himself face to face with Maria. He'd spent the rest of the night calming the distraught girl down, and most of the morning explaining just who he was, careful all the while not to tell her of the NSWF's true intentions. Something like that just might break the poor girl's psyche...

Thankfully Naruto had long since planted his seeds by then. Like any girl her age, Maria's loyalty was easily won by gifts and genuine attention. And Naruto had given her both in spades. Had she been loyal to Furumizu he would've been in a shitload of trouble. Should the head of the NSWF ever learn that his lead researcher was actually a man in disguise...well, best not to think about that.

But Maria was all too eager to keep Naruto's secret; and it was easy to see why. Naruto had taken great pangs to cultivate her loyalty from day one. He was the only one whoever bought her anything, the only one who took her outside, who lavished her with endless praise and attention and gave her hugs whenever she wanted them. He was the only one who read her favorite bedtime stories; tucked her in at night, came running-this was no mean feat, given the distance between the labs and his apartment!-if she ever had a nightmare. It wasn't just for the sake of saving her; this strange, spoiled, little girl,_-not so little anymore!-_had begun to grow on him over the last six years.

He was the only one to take her...well, anywhere outside the lab, and the prospect of losing had not been a pleasant one. There was only one downside. Ever since that fateful day, Maria had taken to calling him "papa" whenever they were alone. Naruto had reluctantly accepted the mantle of _papa_ Maria had unwittingly thrust upon him. Honestly, it was like being a parent all over again. Albeit with a child that could just as easily break every bone in your body, but the sentiment wasn't lost on him.

**"Admit it, she's like a daughter to you." **Kurama rumbled from within the seal.** "Kami knows you can't resist spoiling her."**

_'I...do no such thing.'_

**"Ha! Did you forget I could read your mind, kit?"**

_'Urusai urusai urusai you cheeky dickwaffle!'_

Ruthlessly shutting out the kitsune's laughter, he returned to the present.

"That reminds me for whatever reason... I have something for you." Naruto snapped his fingers behind her back, revealing a small bag he'd secreted away in one of his scrolls. He'd meant to save it for tomorrow when he visited her, but now seemed as good a time as any to give her the gift. It was like flicking a he still had one arm concealed behind his back, the bluenette danced away from his arms and desperately tried to peer up and around his shoulders, but to no avail.

"Neh, neh, what's that, papa?"

"This?" Naruto held up the item in question; a large bag. "You wouldn't possibly be interested in _this."_

"Gimme!"

Naruto made no effort to resist when the neogene snatched the bag up out of his hands; he knew better than to come between the girl and her gift. Ruthlessly ripping the wrapping paper aside, Maria held up the item in the light, her eyes flying wide as she recognized the gift in question; a large, stuffed teddy bear.

"Oh, papa!" She cooed, hugging the teddy bear close to her chest, "I love you!" She gazed up at him adoringly. "Neh, can I stay the night?"

"I don't think that's a good idea...

_"Pleeeeaaaaaase?"_

...fine." Naruto relented. "You can stay the night." He sighed, pushing a hand through his hair. He couldn't have the NSWF catching him unawares in his male form. "I'll have to change back into Naruko again, just to be safe." Tsking, he placed his figners together, expelling a faint cloud of smoke to her eyes; revealiing his female form once more, nightgown and all. Naruko groused sullen and petulant, annoyed at having to resume this ridiculous guise once more. Unbidden, the words of his old friend Shikamaru came to him. "Troublesome...

"Can I sleep in your bed then, mama?" Maria pressed the advantage, glomming, burrying her head beneath her breasts. Naruko nearly face-vaulted.

"Um...Maria...what did you just call me?"

"Naruto is papa, so Naruko is mama." She rationalized. "Neh, can I, mama?"

Naruto stood rooted in place, frozen by the question; he'd been asked this very same thing many times before by one of his many daughters back in Konoha when they were young. He'd always said yes, of course. But with Maria...he wasn't quite so certain. He was horrifically ruining this girl's pscyhe with her misconceived conceptions of her mother and father. He just knew it. And yet he couldn't bring himself to explain it to her, the fact that while she might seem him as papa, he was clearly, most definitely, _not_ her mother. But in the end...the words just wouldn't come.

At a loss, Naruko tucked an arm around her "daughter's" waist and ushered her toward the bedroom.

_...fine."_

It would prove to be a long, sleepless night...

**A/N: *Burns from embarassment* Kami alive this was HARD to write! My ears are burning bright right now and I'm pretty damn sure I've got one helluva nose bleed! I've never written anything so ridiculously...well, intimate before! Naruto fingering Shiori on the boat in plain view of several people...OI?! Granted, he only did that to calm her down and slate her lust, but still! If I did that to my girl in public I'd be slapped silly! Now you see why this is M Rated, neh? There are some things you can do in anime that just can't be done in reality, and this is one of them. Naruto, with a bit of help from Kurama, has tamed Shiori and restored her cloneblade, granting her access to the second state. I think its safe to say Shiori is a yandere...regardless, Naruto's bound to have quite the harem when all is said and done...and as you can see, he views Maria more as a daughter then anything else. But all is not yet well in paradise. Shit's about to hit the fan, and though I will not say how, suffice it to say Maria will realize who her actual mama is...**

**If anyone caught the TFS reference at the very end, good for you! =D**

**So, in the immortal words of Altas...**

**...review, would you kindly? Aaaand enjoy the preview!**

**(Preview)**

**R&R! =D **


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